The Human Lymphatic/Immune System

1. The Human Lymphatic/Immune System

2. Introduction • The lymphatic system is closely associated with the cardiovascular system and is made up of a network of vessels that circulate body fluids • The organs of the lymphatic system help defend against diseases

3. The Lymphatic System and Immunity • Lymph-Fluid that goes between capillary blood and tissues • Lymph Vessels-transport excess tissue fluid back into circulatory system • Lymph Nodes-Produce lymphocytes, filter out harmful bacteria • Thymus Gland-Produces T-Lymphocytes, upper, anterior thorax, above the heart (also considered an endocrine gland)

4. Lymphatic Organs • Tonsils: masses of lymphatic tissue that produce lymphocytes and filter out bacteria (they get smaller as a person gets older) • Adeniods-tonsils on upper part of the throat • Spleen: sac-like mass of tissue, upper left abdominal cavity (just below the diaphragm), forms lymphocytes and monocytes, filters blood, blood reservoir, recycles old RBCs

5. Lymph • Straw-colored fluid • Interstitial fluid (tissue fluid) because it is in the spaces in between cells • Composed of water, lymphocytes, oxygen, digested nutrients, hormones, salts, carbon dioxide, urea • NO RBCs or protein molecules • Carries digested food, oxygen and hormones to cells • Carries wastes back to capillaries

6. Lymphatic System Lymph Vessels Lymph Nodes Tiny, oval shaped-size of pinhead to size of almond Located alone or can be grouped Site for lymph production and filter for screening out harmful substances If substance can’t be destroyed, node becomes inflamed • Closely parallel veins • Located in almost all tissues and organs that have blood vessels • Lymph flow goes only in one direction-from body organs to the heart

7. Lymph Vessel Flow Chart

8. What is the immune system? • The body’s defense against disease causing organisms, malfunctioning cells, and foreign particles

10. Think of the human body as a hollow plastic tube… The food is digested within the hole in the tube, but it never actually enters into the solid plastic material. Tube inner surface ~Digestive System~ Tube outer surface ~Skin~ Plastic interior ~Body~

11. These bacteria are technically outside the body and aid in digesting material we cannot • Only if E.coli are introduced in an unnatural manner can they break through the first line of defense and harm us Escherichia coliis common and plentiful in all of our digestive tracts. Why are we all not sick?

12. The First Line of Defense~Skin~ • The dead, outer layer of skin, known as the epidermis, forms a shield against invaders and secretes chemicals that kill potential invaders • You shed between 40 – 50 thousand skin cells every day!

13. The First Line of Defense~Mucus and Cilia~ • As you breathe in, foreign particles and bacteria bump into mucus throughout your respiratory system and become stuck • Hair-like structures called cilia sweep this mucus into the throat for coughing or swallowing Don’t swallowed bacteria have a good chance of infecting you?

14. Saliva contains many chemicals that break down bacteria • Thousands of different types of bacteria can survive these chemicals, however The First Line of Defense~Saliva~ What’s the first thing you do when you cut your finger?

15. The First Line of Defense~Stomach Acid~ • Swallowed bacteria are broken down by incredibly strong acids in the stomach that break down your food • The stomach must produce a coating of special mucus or this acid would eat through the stomach!

16. The Second Line of Defense~White Blood Cells~ • If invaders actually get within the body, then your white blood cells (WBCs) begin their attack • WBCs normally circulate throughout the blood, but will enter the body’s tissues if invaders are detected

17. White Blood Cells ~Phagocytes~ • These white blood cells are responsible for eating foreign particles by engulfing them • Once engulfed, the phagocyte breaks the foreign particles apart in organelles called ________ Lysosomes

18. White Blood Cells~T-Cells~ • T-Cells, often called “natural killer” cells, recognize infected human cells and cancer cells • T-cells will attack these infected cells, quickly kill them, and then continue to search for more cells to kill

19. The Second Line of Defense~Interferon~ • Virus-infected body cells release interferon when an invasion occurs • Interferon – chemical that interferes with the ability to viruses to attack other body cells What happens to already infected cells?

20. The Second Line of Defense~The Inflammatory Response~ • Injured body cells release chemicals called histamines, which begin inflammatory response • Capillaries dilate • Pyrogens released, reach hypothalamus, and temperature rises • Pain receptors activate • WBCs flock to infected area like sharks to blood

21. The Third Line of Defense~Antibodies~ • Most infections never make it past the first and second levels of defense • Those that do trigger the production and release of antibodies • Proteins that latch onto, damage, clump, and slow foreign particles • Each antibody binds only to one specific binding site, known as an antigen

22. Antibody Production • WBCs gobble up invading particles and break them up • They show the particle pieces to T-cells, who identify the pieces and find specific B-cells to help • B-cells produce antibodies that are equipped to find that specific piece on a new particle and attach

24. Immunity • The body’s ability to resist bacterial invasion and disease • New particles take longer to identify, and a person remains ill until a new antibody can be crafted • Old particles are quickly recognized, and a person may never become ill from that invader again. This person is now immune.

25. What is immunity? • Resistance to a disease causing organism or harmful substance • Two types • Active Immunity • Passive Immunity

26. Active Immunity • You produce the antibodies • Your body has been exposed to the antigen in the past either through: • Exposure to the actual disease causing antigen – You fought it, you won, you remember it • Planned exposure to a form of the antigen that has been killed or weakened – You detected it, eliminated it, and remember it • What is this second type of exposure called?

27. Vaccine • Antigens are deliberately introduced into the immune system to produce immunity • Because the bacteria has been killed or weakened, minimal symptoms occur • Have eradicated or severely limited several diseases from the face of the Earth, such as polio and smallpox

28. How long does active immunity last? • It depends on the antigen • Some disease-causing bacteria multiply into new forms that our body doesn’t recognize, requiring annual vaccinations, like the flu shot • Booster shot - reminds the immune system of the antigen • Others last for a lifetime, such as chicken pox

29. Think the flu is no big deal? • Think again… • In 1918, a particularly deadly strain of flu, called the Spanish Influenza, spread across the globe • It infected 20% of the human population and killed 5%, which came out to be about 100 million people

30. Do we get all the possible vaccines we can? • Although the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends certain vaccines, many individuals go without them • Those especially susceptible include travelers and students • Consider the vaccine for meningitis, which is recommended for all college students and infects 3,000 people in the U.S., killing 300 annually

31. Placenta Thymus Passive Immunity • You don’t produce the antibodies • A mother will pass immunities on to her baby during pregnancy - through what organ? • These antibodies will protect the baby for a short period of time following birth while its immune system develops. What endocrine gland is responsible for this? • Lasts until antibodies die (3-5 weeks)

32. Immune Disorders~Allergies~ • Immune system mistakenly recognizes harmless foreign particles as serious threats • Launches immune response, which causes sneezing, runny nose, and watery eyes • Anti-histamines block effect of histamines and bring relief to allergy sufferers

33. Cell before infection… …and after. Viruses Viruses enter body cells, hijack their organelles, and turn the cell into a virus making-factory. The cell will eventually burst, releasing thousands of viruses to infect new cells.

34. Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome • Caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus • Discovered in 1983 • Specifically targets and kills T-cells • Because normal body cells are unaffected, immune response is not launched • Patients with AIDS cannot fight off cancers or most infections

35. AIDS~The Modern Plague~ • The HIV virus doesn’t kill you – it cripples your immune system • With your immune system shut down, common diseases that your immune system normally could defeat become life-threatening • Can show no effects for several months all the way up to 10 years

36. Symptoms of AIDs • Prolonged fatigue • Persistent fevers • Persistent, unexplained cough • Thick coating in throat or on tongue • Easy bruising, unexplained bleeding • Appearance of purple lesions on mucous membranes • Chronic diarrhea • Shortness of breath • Unexplained weight loss (10 pounds or more in less than 2 months)

37. AIDS~The Silent Spread~ • Transmitted by sexual contact, blood transfusions, contaminated needles • As of 2007, it affects an estimated 33.2 million people

38. AIDS Transmission Cannot be spread by Casual contact Through air, feces, food, urine and/or water Coughing, sneezing, embracing, shaking hands and sharing eating utensils • Sex with someone who is HIV positive • Sharing needles with infected IV drug users • At birth from infected mother